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MEETING AT NIH REGARDING PATIENTS INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM

HREX; ETHICS; MEETINGS; PATIENTS; PLUTONIUM; PLUTONIUM INJECTION EXPERIMENT

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

LEGAL DOCUMENT

Never classified

0003

NV0700026

1994 Aug 27

2012 May 14

ON MARCH 7, 1974, DR. LIVERMAN, DIRECTOR OF THE AEC'S DIVISION OF BIOMEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (DBER) AND DR. MARKS OF HIS STAFF AND MR. ROWDEN (OF THE AEC'S OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL) MET WITH DRS. LAMONT-HAVERS AND CHALKNEY. THEY WERE BOTH MANAGERS IN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. THE PURPOSE OF THE MEETING WAS TO GET ADVICE ON HOW TO DEAL WITH THE PLUTONIUM INJECTED PATIENTS AND RELATED MATTERS. THIS FOUR PAGE DOCUMENT SEEMS TO BE THE UNSIGNED NOTES OF ONE OF THE ATTENDEES. THE ATTENDEES AGREED THAT: ANY FUTURE STUDIES OF THESE PATIENTS WOULD REQUIRE THE APPROVAL OF AN INSTITUTION'S HUMAN USE COMMITTEE. DISCLOSURE TO THE PATIENTS OR RELATIVES IS ESSENTIAL UNLESS AN ATTENDING PHYSICIAN THINKS SUCH WOULD CAUSE SERIOUS DETRIMENT TO HEALTH. THE LIKELIHOOD OF PUBLICITY SOON MAKES PROMPT ACTION IMPERATIVE. IN PUBLISHING SCIENTIFIC REPORTS ON THESE PATIENTS, MUCH CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT THEIR PRIVACY. THE ATTENDEES DISCUSSED WAYS TO MAKE FULL PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF THE PLUTONIUM-INJECTED PATIENTS. ONE APPROACH DISCUSSED WAS TO ASK THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE TO APPOINT A REVIEW COMMITTEE, WHO WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY PUBLISH A REPORT. ANOTHER APPROACH WAS TO CONVENE A "MEDICOLEGAL" CLINICAL PATHOLOGIC CONFERENCE. THE AEC ATTENDEES FAVORED THE NAS APPROACH. THE ATTENDEES DID NOT DISCUSS THE PROPRIETY OF THE INJECTIONS IN 1945 AND RELATED MATTERS. INSTEAD THE DISCUSSIONS FOCUSED ON THE COURSE OF ACTION THAT WOULD FOLLOW CLOSELY THE DHEW RECOMMENDATIONS ON STUDIES INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS. THE DOCUMENT CLOSES WITH A LIST OF ACTION ITEMS FOR THE DIRECTOR OF THE DBER.